Hamas has responded to a proposal sent last week by mediators from Qatar and Egypt, who are backed by the US and Israel, with a ceasefire plan that will silence the guns in Gaza for four and a half months leading to an end to the war.
As per a draft document seen by Reuters, the Hamas counterproposal envisions three phases lasting 45 days each.
The proposal would have militants exchange the remaining Israeli hostages they took on October 7 for Palestinian prisoners. Gaza’s reconstruction would start, Israeli soldiers would leave entirely and corpses and remains would be exchanged.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Israel overnight after meeting with the leaders of mediators Qatar and Egypt in the war’s most serious diplomatic push of the war so far, to get an extended truce. Details of Hamas’ counteroffer have not before been disclosed.
The Hamas counterproposal said that all Israeli women hostages, males under the age of 19, the elderly, and the sick would be released during the first 45 days in exchange for the release of Palestinian women and children from Israeli jails.
The remaining male captives would be released during the second phase, and remain exchanged in the third phase. By the end of the third phase, Hamas expects the sides to have struck an agreement to end the war.